Preheat oven to 350*Cook macaroni as per directions on the box. Drain and set aside.While macaroni is cooking, start the cheese sauce.Melt margarine in a medium sauce pan. Slowly whisk in the flour. A little at a time, begin to add the milk, whisking it in to make the mixture smooth until all the milk is added. Continue to whisk as you bring the sauce to a boil (it will thicken). Mix in the mustard powder, salt and pepper. Grate cheese into the sauce and mix well. Remove from heat.Spray a large casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray. Add the noodles. Pour the sauce over the noodles and stir in.Optional: Mix crushed corn flakes with melted margarine and sprinkle over the macaroni.Bake for 20-30 minutes

-topping alternatives:1) mix flavoured croutons with margarine to top macaroni2) grate cheeses over top of the macaroni

Pierce potatoes several times with a fork and cook in microwave on high for 5-7 minutes (until they are soft). Allow to cool. Grate potatoes into a small mixing bowl (peel will naturally separate, discard peel). Add onion, egg and seasonings. Mix well. Heat oil in frying pan set over low medium heat. Form potato mix into little cakes with your hands. Fry on both sides so that each side browns nicely.Serve with applesauce and/or sour cream.

Spray a large soup pot with a non-stick cooking spray. Cook cut up beef in soup pot until there is no pink left (medium heat). Add water and bring to a boil. Boil for 1 minute. Add vegetables and remaining ingredients. Stir. Let soup return to a boil before turning stove down to minimum heat. Allow soup to simmer for at least 3 hours before serving.

Friday, November 14, 2008

I've adapted this recipe from several bran muffin recipes. I find muffins are an excellent way to get some nutrition in my kids without them knowing it. My oldest son refuses to eat carrots, but loves these muffins. I also find kids love to eat mini-muffins.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

1 lb of extra lean ground beef (you can use any ground beef or chicken you like, but that's what I use)1 eggseveral dashes of Worchester sauce 1/4 cup chopped onion (I used red onion today, but any kind of onion will do)1/2 cup oats (or breadcrumbs)a few dashes each of salt and pepper

Mix all of this together well.Form 1 inch round meatballs and put on baking sheet.Bake in 350* oven for about 20 minutes

You could serve these just as is and they'd be fine. Add some Italian seasoning to them for spagetti meatballs.

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

Make meatballs as directed above. While the meatballs are baking, mix 1 cup of crushed pineapple, 1-2 tbsp finely chopped onion and 1 jar of sweet and sour sauce together. Put everything, including the meatballs in a crockpot/slow cooker on low heat for 6-8 hours. Serve over rice (brown preferrably).

When we eat Greek, we use the Greek Pitas. These are are thicker and not hollow inside. Brush a little butter (or garlic butter on them). Toast or heat for a few minutes. Cut into triangles and serve with hummus, baba ganoush, or tzatziki.

Heat oven to 375*Use thawed sheets of filo pastry (4). Brush olive oil on each sheet of filo dough. Cut each strip of filo into 3's (using knife edge). Put a spoonful of spinach mix at the end of each long strip and fold into triangles. Place each triangle on a baking sheet. Brush olive oil on top of each triange. Bake until golden brown. (about 15 minutes). Makes 12 triangles.
*update, I started using a melted butter/olive oil mix to brush on the filo instead of just olive oil and it really makes what was good even better!

1 Cup of plain yogurt. (I use Liberty brand mediterranian style, it's really thick and strain overnight with a cheese cloth to make it even thicker)1/2 English cucumber, grated1 clove garlic crushed1-2 tsbp dried dill (I just skake it in until it looks right to me)squirt of lemon juice

Mix all ingredients together. Make ahead of time to allow the garlic and dill to flavour nicely.

1 Can of Chickpeas, drained1/4 cup of mayo or sour cream (light if you prefer)2 tbsp tahini2 tbsp lemon juice2 cloves crushed garlic1/2 tsp sugara few dashes of dried corriander and cuminsalt and pepper to taste

Puree the chickpeas (I use a hand blender, but can be done in a food processor). Add the rest of the ingredients and mix until creamy. Make ahead of time to allow the flavours to come together. Serve with pita bread.

I've been spoiling my sons by making pancakes every weekend. Unfortunately, now they seem to want pancakes every day. I've made a point of not making any the last 2 weekends. Last week we had waffles and today I made Raspberry-Yogurt Muffins. The recipe is absolutely delicious. I made ours as mini-muffins, without the raspberry jam filling. Just reduce the cooking time to 15-18 minutes. I also made the 'raspberry yogurt' by heating frozen raspberries (about 1/2 cup - I eyeballed it) for a minute in the microwave and mixing it with 1 Cup plain yogurt.

No, this is not a post on Asian-fusion cooking. This is what happens when you transplant a BC girl to the Maritimes (Canada, that is). My first impression of Maritime cooking was pork, pork and more pork. I don't eat pork. I can't, it actually makes me physically ill. This led to some uncomfortable conversations when we were invited to ham suppers here. I happily ate my scalloped potatoes (or potatoes scallop for my Maritime friends) as my hostess couldn't get over the fact that I didn't eat ham. Who is this girl and whoever heard of someone not eating ham anyway? Maritimers are great a basic meat and potatoes meals. They are hearty and have served us well over the years. But, as I said, I'm a BC girl. The Vancouver area is full of the best food the world has to offer. And I love to cook. I love to figure out recipes. In fact sometimes I have a hard time ordering at restaurants because I don't want to order something that I can make at home. I want to try something new and delicious. I've had a lot of fun with food since I've moved here, from spooking my friend Barb (a solid bologna sandwich on white bread kinda girl) at work by eating falafel for lunch to introducing my friend Sarah to perogies (what?), it's been good. As my friend Jaclyn says, she loves coming to my house for dinner because you never know what you're going to get.

Welcome to my third blog. My first is my regular blog, all about me and my family and my thoughts on random things. The second is my book blog, which is basically fulfilling my desires to be a book critic. This blog is dedicated to all of my friends and accquaintences who think I can cook and enjoy coming for supper at my house. Happy Eating!